The McCune-Reischauer system is a transcription system; it re-writes Korean words in the Latin alphabet based on their sound. Readers illiterate in Korean have no way of knowing the sound of 독립 not to mention its meaning. Transcription, or the recoding of 독립 as tongnip, helps them to recognize and reproduce its sound. (Its translation, independence, helps them to understand its meaning.)

While the function of the McCune-Reischauer system is straightforward--All it does is match each Korean consonant and vowel with the roman letter or letters equivalent in sound--the system is criticized for being too complicated to use. There are two main reasons for such criticisms: the use of a diacritical (meaningdistinguishing) mark for certain vowels and the use of multiple roman letters for some consonants.

While it is true that the M-R system uses a diacritical mark and associates multiple roman letters for some consonants, these problems are hardly attributable to the M-R system.

First, Korean has more vowels than the Latin alphabet. Specifically, ㅓ and ㅡ do not have roman letters equivalent in sound. While o and u come close to these vowels, they are closer to ㅗ and ㅜ than to ㅓ and ㅡ.(1) Consequently, these roman letters are reserved for ㅗ and ㅜ. Since o and u cannot be used for ㅓ and ㅡ, it isimpossible not to "create" new roman letters. The McCune-Reischauer does it efficiently by using a single diacriticalmark over o and u: ŏ for ㅓand ŭ for ㅡ. These letters are awkward but the M-R system should not be to blame for them. And although ŏandŭwere hard to type in the past, today, most word-processing programs can handle these letters easily.

Second, some Korean consonants represent two or more different sounds depending on their position in a word or phrase.(2) A different roman letter is then required to represent each sound. (Korean vowels, on the other hand, do not change their sounds.) Sound changes are confusing and inconvenient but the M-R system should not be to blame for them.

Example)ㄱ is pronounced as kin고려or석상, g in 적용, orng in직면.

Simplified Table of the McCune-Reischauer System

Row: InitialColumn: Final

ㅇ

ㄱ

ㄴ

ㄷ

ㄹ

ㅁ

ㅂ

ㅅ

ㅈ

ㅊ

ㅋ

ㅌ

ㅍ

ㅎ

*1

K

N

T

(R)

M

P

S2

CH

CH'

K'

T'

P'

H

ㄱ

K

G

KK

NGN

KT

NGN

NGM

KP

KS

KCH

KCH'

KK'

KT'

KP'

KH

ㄴ

N

N

N'G

NN

ND

LL

NM

NB

NS

NJ

NCH'

NK'

NT'

NP'

NH

ㄹ

L

R

LG

LL

LT

LL

LM

LB

LS

LCH

LCH'

LK'

LT'

LP'

RH

ㅁ

M

M

MG

MN

MD

MN

MM

MB

MS

MJ

MCH'

MK'

MT'

MP'

MH

ㅂ

P

B

PK

MN

PT

MN

MM

PP

PS

PCH

PCH'

PK'

PT'

PP'

PH

ㅇ

NG

NG

NGG

NGN

NGD

NGN

NGM

NGB

NGS

NGJ

NGCH'

NGK'

NGT'

NGP'

NGH

1. A consonant between two vowels is transcribed with its initial value except that ㄱ is G, ㄷ is D, ㅂ is B, and ㅈ is J.2. 쉬 is romanized SHWI.

Theabove tablesdoappear complicated but suchappearance is misleading. They are actually much simpler and easier to use than they first appear. The following exercise is intended to prove this point.

독립can be disaggregated into 독+ 립 and then further into ㄷ + ㅗ + ㄱ + ㄹ + ㅣ+ ㅂ. ㄱand ㄹ are underlined to indicate the possibility of sound change.

(1). ㄷin 독 is an initial consonant with no preceding final consonant. The roman letter for such ㄷ is T(1)in the consonant table below.(All other roman letters in the ㄷ column are for initial consonant ㄷ preceded byfinal consonants in previous syllables.) (2) The roman letter for ㅗ in 독 is o(2) in the vowel table below. (3) ㄱ in 독 is a final consonant followed by an initial consonant ㄹin 립. The roman letters for thisㄱ-ㄹ pairare to be found at the intersection of the ㄱ row and the ㄹ column: NGN(3)(4) The roman letter forㅣin 립 is i(4)in the vowel table.(5) Finally, ㅂin립 is a final consonant followed by no initial consonant. The roman letter for such ㅂ is P(5)in the ㅂrow. (All other roman letters in the ㅂrow are for final consonant ㅂfollowed by initial consonants in the next syllables.) (6) The final outcome is tongnip.

Consonant Table

Row: InitialColumn: Final

ㅇ

ㄱ

ㄴ

ㄷ

ㄹ

ㅁ

ㅂ

ㅅ

ㅈ

ㅊ

ㅋ

ㅌ

ㅍ

ㅎ

*

K

N

T (1)

(R)

M

P

S

CH

CH'

K'

T'

P'

H

ㄱ

K

G

KK

NGN

KT

NGN(3)

NGM

KP

KS

KCH

KCH'

KK'

KT'

KP'

KH

ㄴ

N

N

N'G

NN

ND

LL

NM

NB

NS

NJ

NCH'

NK'

NT'

NP'

NH

ㄹ

L

R

LG

LL

LT

LL

LM

LB

LS

LCH

LCH'

LK'

LT'

LP'

RH

ㅁ

M

M

MG

MN

MD

MN

MM

MB

MS

MJ

MCH'

MK'

MT'

MP'

MH

ㅂ

P(5)

B

PK

MN

PT

MN

MM

PP

PS

PCH

PCH'

PK'

PT'

PP'

PH

ㅇ

NG

NG

NGG

NGN

NGD

NGN

NGM

NGB

NGS

NGJ

NGCH'

NGK'

NGT'

NGP'

NGH

Vowel Table

ㅏ

ㅑ

ㅓ

ㅕ

ㅗ

ㅛ

ㅜ

ㅠ

ㅡ

ㅣ

ㅘ

ㅝ

ㅐ

ㅔ

ㅚ

ㅟ

ㅢ

ㅙ

ㅞ

ㅒ

ㅖ

a

ya

ŏ

yŏ

o(2)

yo

u

yu

ŭ

i(4)

wa

wŏ

ae

e

oe

wi

ŭi

wae

we

yae

ye

What the M-R System Does and Does Not Do

The McCune-Reischauer system helps authors to approximate the sounds of Korean words using the Latin alphabet. Korean and Western languages, however, differ not only in their alphabets and pronunciations but also in grammar and usage. The M-R system is neither intended nor able to reconcile differences in grammar and usage. Korean and English, for example, differ in terms of word division, capitalization, and punctuation. Inconsistency and arbitrariness in Korean romanization often stem from differences in word division, capitalization, and punctuation between the two languages rather than from the M-R system.

The United States Library of Congress and the American Library Association created rules to regulate word division, capitalization, and punctuation in Korean romanization. While these rules fill an important gap left by the M-R system, they are far from perfect. In fact, they are becoming increasingly outdated, too complicated for general users, and not free of arbitrariness. In other words, in supplementing the M-R system, it has created a new set of problems, many of which have been incorrectly attributed to the M-R system.

___________________________

(1) To be more accurate, o and u sound like ㅗ and ㅜ in Italian. As in the Hepburn system for Japanese and the Wade-Giles system for Chinese, the vowels, o and u included, are pronounced as in Italian. This creates confusion for English speakers, but not necessarily for Koreans, who typically associate o with ㅗ and u with ㅜ. (2) The consonants, on the other hand, are pronounced as in English.